


Trying not to love you, only makes me love you more

by PanicsOnTheHorizon



Category: Hockey RPF, Sports RPF
Genre: Fluff, Jealousy, M/M, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Sexual inuendos, Sidney Crosby Needs A Hug, Washington Capitals, song lyrics as a title
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-20
Updated: 2014-07-27
Packaged: 2018-02-07 07:53:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1890966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PanicsOnTheHorizon/pseuds/PanicsOnTheHorizon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where a Russian falls in love with an awkward Canadian but never says anything so the latter gets with another Russian... And the Russian's happen to be best friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry in advance for any injuries you may sustain while reading this, i know it's bad x(
> 
> Completely unbeta'd so mistakes are on me
> 
> No copyright intended, i don't own anyone/thing mentioned, purely for the purpose of entertainment
> 
> Hope you enjoy )))))

Geno's heart was racing as Sergei knocked on the Lemieux's front door. His mouth was dry as he tried to swallow the lump in his throat and wiped his sweating palms on the back of his slacks. He was so unbelieveably nervous, which was to be expected. He was about to walk into the house of not only his boss, but one of the best Penguins ever, knowing how to say less than ten words in English.

 _Keep calm, I'll be doing all the talking. all you have to do is smile and eat._ Sergei instructions from earlier that day rang through Geno's head again. the door opened then, revealing a smiling, freshly shaven Mario.

"Sergei!" He boomed, hand outstretched to the Russian to shake it before pulling him into a friendly hug. And when he turned his eyes on Geno, the center felt his heart skip a beat.

"Ahh and you must be Geno. Our soon-to-be star." He beamed a brilliant smile at the younger Russian as Sergei quickly translated. He also translated Geno's _Is very nice to meet you_ as the center was being pulled into a hug of his own.

"Well, c'mon in." Mario said, heading into his house. And with a quick translation from Sergei, Geno was following suit.

Mario lead them into a dining room that almost took Geno's breath away. It was just so _big_. Not to mention more beautiful than anything he'd seen in Russia. He was so overwhelmed by the sight that he didn't realize that there were other people in the room until Sergei was asking him a question in Russian.

Geno felt the blush spread across his face as he asked him to repeat the question. Sergei just sighed before saying, "Sit down?"

Geno smiled and nodded his head before saying one of the very few words he knew, "Please."

The vibrant woman who had initially asked the question smiled sweetly at him. She rested her hand on his shoulder and guided him to a chair at the table, speaking while Gonchar translated. "Here. I'm Nathalie, by the way. And I want to let you know that I'm so happy you're here and if you need someone outside of all those boys to talk to, I'll be here."

Geno couldn't help, but smile as he gave thanks in his native tongue, followed by Sergei so she could understand.Geno felt oddly at ease as he took the seat Nathalie had given him. The most relaxed he'd been since he arrived in America.

"Geno." He felt Sergei's hand on his shoulder a split second before hearing his voice. "Come meet the Kids. It'll be alright." The older man hastily added the last part after seeing Geno's terrified expression. "It'll be fun, come." He also adds, pulling Geno up by his elbow.

"Fine, fine." Evgeni snipped at the older man as he rose to his feet. All though it was just the Lemieux's kids, the Russian center felt his heartbeat pick up and his palms slick with sweat. He watched as the Lemieux's scrambled their kids into a semi-straight line and paused again before speaking to each other in flurries of seemingly aggravated English. Geno turned a hitched eyebrow at Gonch who just said, "They're short two."

Geno gnawed lightly on his lip as Gonch and Mario exchaned words before the chairman slipped away into the hallway. There was silence followed by angry sounding English and the slam of a door. The Russian felt himself jump at the sound of Gonch trying to cover up his laughter with a cough. With a glance at the Lemieux's, he realized they were doing the same.

He tried to surpress the dumbfounded look that Geno began to think would become his permanent face as Mario entered the room again with a pleasantly warm smile on his face. He was flanked by a short boy who was undoubtably his son. A few seconds later another boy entered, one who practically looked Geno's age and looked rather uncomfortable with his hands stuffed down the pockets of his dress pants. They were black and slick and seemed to shape his legs perfectly. The Russian felt his throat go dry as he mustered up the most convincing smile possible.

And he tried, he _really_ tried, to listen to what Gonch was translating for him, but he couldn't keep his damned eyes off of the guy who he thought was introduced as Sidney. And then something clicked in the young Russian's mind. Sidney as in Sidney _Crosby_. His now Alternate Captain and hockey's golden boy. Out of anyone he could've posibly met in America, he had to go and have the hots for _the one person who was virtually off limits!_ God, Evgeni absolutely hated himself sometimes...

"Zhenya!" Sergei's voice, ridden heavily with annoyance, broke through his mental moment of self-loathing. His face burned red as he dropped his gaze to the floor and muttered his apologizes. But the Lemieux's just brushed him off with smiles as they're children giggled.

Hoping he hadn't been caught staring, Evgeni risked another look at the Canadian. To his surprise, Sidney was already looking at him. When their eyes met, Geno could feel the heat that had colored his face move and spread across his chest. The center gave him a strikingly beautiful, yet slightly awkward, smile that he couldn't help but return.

 _Good,_ the Russian thought after Sidney moved his gaze else where, Geno waiting a moment before doing the same. _Either (a) he didn't notice, or (b) he noticed but doesn't care_

His dreams that night would be haunted by the latter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry if this was bad.. and short. Future chapters will be longer and more detailed!
> 
> And I would please ask that if you enjoyed this to please drop a comment, I'd really appreciate it


	2. Expect the unexpected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologizes for taking so long to update, but hopefully it was worth the wait!

"I can't even imagine having to share a locker room with him."

"So, are you planning on tell him about this _crush_?"

"Sanja, _I don't know_ what I'm going to do!" Evgeni spat into his phone for what felt like the millionth time in the last fifteen minutes. The center sighed, realizing that even though they are _best friends_ , he just couldn't go to the right winger for advice. Especially not relationship advice.

The usually quirky Russian didn't seem to have a response for Evgeni, so he muttered a quick goodbye and ended the call. Perfect timing it seemed because when he looked up it was to see Gonch pulling into the Lemiuex's driveway.

"Remember, I'm here if I'm needed." Sergei reminded Geno as he headed towards the front door. He just gave a nod in response as he continued in the opposite direction, towards the guesthouse where some of his teammates were waiting on him. He didn't have the time to contemplate whether to knock or just walk in because the door was already opening as he approached it. The ever-so polite host that Sidney was smiled gorgeously at him before stepping aside to allow him to enter, receiving a gentle, yet firm, pat on the shoulder having cross the threshold.

The Russian could hear friendly yelling coming from the next room as he shrugged out of his jacket and toed off his shoes. _Probably playing some stupid video game,_ Evgeni thought and laughed at the almost apologetic expression Sidney gave him that basically confirmed his suspicions. Shooting his alternate a smile he just shrugged and proceeded to follow the giggling Canadian into the room where the previously mentioned noise was coming from. And _no_ , he _did not_ sneak an innocent glance at his perfectly shaped ass.

"Hey!" Marc was the first to greet him, sending a goofy smile his way. He waved and returned the smile with one of his own.

After taking in the faces of a sulken Kris and Max, he concluded that the goalie was kicking both their asses at whatever silly game was lighting up the tv screen. The Russian had only been here almost two months,so he knew that this was nothing out of the norm. "Have fun with ass kick?" He chirped as he passed where Talbot slouched on the couch, feigning hurt at Max's obscene gesture as Sidney burst into a honking laugh. And _damn_ Geno if that laugh made his chest tighten and stomach tingle.

"Okay," Sidney addressed Geno as they hunkered down around the coffee table, the natural glow of laughter still evident on his cheeks. "Ignore them, let's get started."

Evgeni didn't know if it was the built-in Canadian politeness or the desire to be the greatest captain that everyone knew he was going to be that drove Sidney to offer to help him learn English during afternoon sessions at his (aka Mario's guest) house. Though he was grateful because although he'd occasionally get distracted, focusing more on the purse of Sid's lips or the way his unkempt curls barely brushed the top of his brow rather than focusing on the words he was supposed to be learning, it was worth it. Worth every gleeful smile Sidney beamed at him when he quickly grasped a new concept. Worth every adorable, honking laugh when he would countlessly messed up the same words. And, most definitely, worth the moments where pure pride shone through the young Canadian's eyes. _Pride for Geno._ That alone made him want to learn. And really learn. For Sid.

~

Evgeni sighed as Sidney held up yet _another_ flashcard. And after a good minute of staring at it, he knew there was no chance of him giving a correct answer so he muttered, "Take break?"

Before Sid could object, Max joined them around the table and greeting them, "Sup, ladies?"

Geno laughed at Max's chirp as Sid barks back a remark too fast for him to catch. Evgeni just shook his head, standing to stretch his stiff joints and grab a drink from the kitchen. He, rather disappointingly, failed to find anything good to drink past water and gatorade, so he settled on the latter. After downing almost half the bottle, the Russian made his way back into the main room. His two teammates resided on the floor, where they were bent together and whispering harshly to each other.

Having noticed his return, they both stopped the chatter and Sid gave him a warm, half-smile that Geno could only respond with a confusedly cocked eyebrow that he also projected onto Max. And ignoring his unspoken question, Max asked one of his own. "So Geno, find a girl yet?" It was a question that he was frequently asked so he had no real trouble understanding.

"No need girl." Was his usual response. And it earned him a proud smile from Sid who then turned to scold Max to worry about his game on the ice instead of off it. Evgeni had to take a long sip of his drink to resist the urge to express that he didn't need a _girl_ , but there was a certain _guy_ he had his eye on...

Max gave an exasperated sigh before launching into a well-rehearsed rant that he's probably gave the other Canadian many times before. Most of it flew right over Evgeni's head, which was okay. He was content letting them argue as he pulled out his phone in attempt to ask Sanja to call him later via text message. That was until his ears picked up on Max using _boyfriend_ and _Sidney_ in the same sentence.

"Who?" Geno asked, cutting off whatever Max had been saying. Both of the Canadian's heads snapped towards him, almost like they had forgotten his presence.

Sidney's face turned red. "What, G?"

"Who Sid boyfriend?" He asked again, turning hîs gaze on both of his teammates. Evgeni watched as Sidney's face got darker as he avoided eye contact.

Silence filled the room for a good minute as neither of them seemed to want to respond. He was about to just shrug it off and return his attention back to his cell phone when Max cleared his throat and used his best nonchalant voice to say, "You really don't know, G? I mean, I thought best friends told each other everything."

Geno's mind raced to comprehend the older Canadian's words, but he couldn't. So he channeled Sidney his best _please explain_ look when he'd finally meet the Russian's eyes.

"Geno.." Sidney almost groaned his name. He opened his mouth as to say something but closed it as Max cut him off.

"Alexander Ovechkin?" Geno watched as Sid grabbed onto Max's arm, as if to shut him up. Geno couldn't help but wish it would've worked. "Ya know, your Russian bestie. Didn't he tell you?"

Geno felt like he'd been punched in the gut. _Sanja? Really?!_

His little known English failing him, the center muttered a Russian goodbye and stands up, heading for the door. He hears Sid say something angrily to the other Canadian before calling after Evgeni, but he keeps walking. Blindly putting on his shoes, the Russian scurried outside, continuing to ignore whatever his captain was saying.

Not wanting to interupt or cut Sergei's visit short, he sat on the Lemieux's doorstep and waited for him to come out. And although he had only sat there for about ten minutes, it had felt like hours to Geno. He wasn't able to calm the whirlpool of questions that were flooding his mind.

_Why Sanja? Why wouldn't he tell Geno? Instead of listening to him complain about how much he liked and how much he wanted the Canadian? He'd probably laughed afterwards at how pathetic he was..._

The car ride back to the Gonchar's was quiet. Their breathing being the only noise filling the car. Once they pulled in the driveway and the engine switched off Sergei simply said in tired Russian, "Sid told me what happened."

But his words only made things worse. Getting out of the car, he slammed the passenger side door and stalked into the house, not stopping until he was safely behind the door of the room he had claimed as his own after coming here. Evgeni discarded his clothes as quickly as he could and jumped into a cold shower. He stood in there long past the point of pruny fingers, letting his emotions encase him. Confusion, grief, and homesickness being the strongest.

Geno honestly didn't know how long it took for his emotions to die down. He when he finally exited his bathroom he noticed a plate of food on the nightstand next to his bed.

 _From Ksenia._ He thought as he took his eyes off the food long enough to locate his previously discarded jeans. After finding them and pulling out his phone, ignoring the text he wanted to send earlier, he typed _fuck u_ to his 'best friend'.

He plowed down his food after chucking his phone to a desolate corner of his room. The center focused his thoughts on hockey until he laid down to sleep, but , for the first time since he started playing, it did nothing to help him forget the turn his life was taking.


	3. God give me the strenght to do what you created me to do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I know that they probably didn't play the Capitals during their first game, but for the sake of this story let's pretend they did!
> 
> Oh, and in case anyone was curious the title is from the song 'Trying not to love you by Nickelback'
> 
> Last but not least, fellow author Canadace_X_Chambers has helped me with this story, especially with anything involving Ovechkin. So if you like this I think you should go check her out.

"You'll be fine." Sergei whispered in kind Russian to Evgeni as they were lacing up their skates. In return he just huffed out a sound of annoyance, not meeting Sergei's(or anyone's for that matter) gaze. But that didn't stop them from trying to engage him with words he only barely understood.

"G!" Max was chattering away at a thousand miles a minute, far to fast for the Russian to hear the words he was using. "Are you even listening to me?"

Sighing, he looked up at the Canadian and knew he meant well. So Geno put on his best phony smile and said, "Talbo talk fast, no hear words.."

"Oh, yeah. Well shit, sorry, G." He had a semi-apologetic face that made Evgeni smile at him again, but this one was genuine. "I just get so excited sometimes that I forget, ya know?"

"Yeah, but no worries! Me and Sid heard you just fine!" Geno's head snapped over to the other side of the locker room where the goalie had called out. And he tried his damnedest not to look at his captain, but the laugh that erupted from him after Max's retort of _'Oh shut up, Flower'_ was too much. The Canadian's face was lit up as him and the tendie basically fell on each other. Geno could even see the crinkles by his eyes.

"Focus!" Gonchar snipped at Evgeni.

Again not responding to the older Russian, the center stood and started taping up his stick in only the way he could.

~

"Alright, boys. Let's go kick some ass!" Coach ended his pep talk and guys starting ushering down the tunnel, in a line established well before his arrival. He was nervous as he realized he was one of two players still in the locker room. The other was Sid.

"Hey, uh.." the Canadian extended his gloved fist. "Good luck, G."

Evgeni met the shorter man's eyes, which were bright with determination, excitement, and... pride?

The center was suddenly overwhelmed with emotions and so many questions he just wanted to hurl at him. But he pushed them all down, this wasn't the time or the place. So he bumped his captain's fist with his own. "Good luck, Sid."

Giving Geno a small smile, Sidney turned and made his way down the tunnel to join their teammates on the ice. Geno followed right behind him, taking deep, steady breaths to calm himself down and allow his head to reenter his _game zone._ Because, not only was this his NHL debut, they were playing the Washington Capitals.

~

They won. 4-2. But to Evgeni, it didn't feel like a total win, something was off. And it was becoming obvious to some of his teammates.

"Hey, cheer up, bro." Flower slapped his thigh with his goalie stick as the Russian passed the tendie's stall. "Not everyone scores in their first game." Evgeni shrugged and gave his goalie a small smile. Geno knew that, though, and it wasn't his cause of discontent, but it was as good excuse as any.

"Hey, bro." Max greeted as soon as the center. "You should really lighten up, though. 'Specially if you plan on picking up some hot girls later."

Geno huffed out a laugh. "No girls." The look on the Canadian's face was priceless.

"What are you talking about? There will be plenty of girls waiting to just fall all over you!"

He just shrugged at his linemate and repeated, "No girls." Max's face was priceless.

~

SID POV

As promised, and to Talbot's utter disbelief, Geno didn't go out. He showered and changed faster than any of the other guys. Something was wrong.

_I'm such a horrible captain..._

"Hey. Nice playing out there, man." Jordy clapped his shoulder before plopping into the locker next to Sidney's.

"Yeah, you, too, man." Sidney replied automatically, trying to busy himself with the tying of his boot laces.

Jordy huffed, but didn't attempt to further the conversation. It had become clear to everyone when Sid wanted to talk and when he wanted to be left the fuck alone. That was something he was grateful for.

"Well, goodnight, boys. Don't party too hard." Sergei said as he picked up his duffle bag. As the oldest member of the team he was always trying to impersonate the responsible father. And he was pretty good at it.

"Hey, Gonch." Sid said, standing up from his locker. The Russian looked at him. "Wait up?"

He nodded. "Sure thing, Sid."

Sid gave his defenseman a smile before grabbing his own stuff. He caught up to him and started walking.

"What's up, kid?"

The Canadian smiled at the name that Gonch had written off on basically anyone he could get away with. "Nothing. Well, it's about Geno.."

"Ahh." Gonch must've expected this. "You see, he's just going through a rough time. It's hard for him, not having many friends. And other than my family, I'm afraid to say that he doesn't talk to anyone outside the team." He saw the older man slightly shake his head. He was disappointed. "And it doesn't help that he's stopped talking to Sasha. That kid was doing him good."

Sidney felt himself blush at the mention of Alex's Russian nickname. He hoped Gonch didn't notice. "Yeah, for sure I can relate to that. I'm just worried. Obviously we want him to be at his best to help the team out. But I also want him to be okay for himself." Sidney ran a hand through his damp hair. "I guess I just wanted you to tell him that he can talk to me. Whenever, about anything."

"Okay, sure thing. Will do, Sid."

The Canadian offered his best smile. "Thanks, Gonch."

"Don't mention it, kid." With a slap on the shoulder, Gonch left his side to move onto his own car. Sidney could see the silhouette of Geno's head, resting back against the seat.

Sidney's chest felt tight as he turned and headed for his own car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope it's been enjoyable


End file.
